There used to be a time when clothes were made in London, Milan, and New York City. It seems now though that these cities have a reputation of still providing the best clothes but not actually making them. The "rag trade" aka the textile industry was a big source of employment for the UK but now it seems clothes are supposed to only be worn and not made here.
The reason the textile industry has completely shifted is because the UK and all the other countries are no longer willing to pay the same price for the clothes as they used to. To see where clothes are now made you may need to look further, as far as south Asia!
One out of every six households in India depends on the garment industry for its livelihood. Retailers are attracted to India due to the countries low production costs. All the major brand companies will emphasis their code of conduct and audit mechanisms that ensure they meet the basic labour standards. However the ground floor reality has not changed and is continuing on a downward spiral.
Workers don’t even know what code of conduct is and trade unions don’t exist. The people operating the sweatshops use this against the workforce and continue to treat women and children who are the majority of the garment workers as machines.
Is this why the companies shifted from the UK? Because they knew behavior like this would not be tolerated? Or so they could take advantage of poor economies?
You maybe able to buy jeans for £8 but it seems we are now paying a much larger moral price for our clothes!
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